The Story of My Girl Carmeli

Never, in my wildest dreams, did I see myself with a Poodle. The first time I saw Carmeli, she was 4 months old, waking up after sedation and radiographs to determine she had a small fracture in her foreleg. At that time, she was owned by a family whose 11 year old boy, out of frustration, knocked her against a wall. There was something about Carmeli’s eyes, so big and expressive, that I felt I could see right into her personality.

Over the next few weeks, it became apparent that the family could not follow instructions to allow her leg to heal properly. At the same time, another client, an elderly lady, had just lost her 15 year old poodle. I approached Carmeli’s family, and offered to find her a wonderful home, but they wanted $300 to give her up. It took several more weeks for them to realize no-one would pay $300 for an unspayed, 6 month old dog with a limp. By the time they decided she would be better off in a different home, my elderly client had already found another dog.  So, since I had no other quick options of rehoming Carmeli, I decided to take her.

My goal was for her to be a family dog, but Carmeli did not want anything to do with my husband and boys. She tolerated them, but had decided that I was her target. I tried for 2 weeks to ignore her, have my family feed her, care for her, love her, but nothing changed. I eventually gave up, and accepted my new role.  For the next 14 years, I was to be owned. Carmeli insisted on being with me all of the time. She learned to tolerate and even enjoy the rest of my family, but definitely preferred me. My husband called her the princess, and me her lady in waiting Carmeli was 15 pounds of very smart, manipulative little dog. One night, while our other dog, McLane, a Flat Coated Retriever, was chewing a bone she backed up to him. She was wagging her tail and looking over her shoulder as if inviting him to play. He half-heartedly mouthed at her and went back to his bone. She continued this, with us watching and thinking how cute she is wanting to play. McLane finally agreed and started chasing her. Around and around the room they went while we laughed. Carmeli looked over her shoulder and  saw that the bigger, less agile dog was far enough behind her. She grabbed his bone and ran upstairs where McLane was not allowed to go. Whoever said dogs do not think?

It was great to see Carmeli and McLane trotting side by side on our long walks in the woods or around the neighborhood. Carmeli never needed a leash because she made sure I was always in her sight. She LOVED to run and everyday when we came home from work together, she would run like the wind around the house. Her little tail could wag so amazingly fast when she was happy, and stand at such attention when she was focused. Even though she could not speak words, her eyes spoke volumes.

Carmeli was my constant companion for 14 years. She taught my family and me so much about love, devotion, manipulation and dog intelligence. We all feel so fortunate to have had a Princess in our lives.